Rights groups say the bamboo-and-plastic structures at Cox’s Bazar were not built to withstand storms.
Photograph: Zuma/Rex/Shutterstock

The coming monsoon season could result in “enormous deaths” among Rohingya people from Myanmar living in refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh, a group of international advisers has warned, because the camps are not built to withstand storms.

“We are at this time in a race against time. For us, the monsoons are coming. The camps of almost 1 million people are not built to withstand monsoon,” Kobsak Chutikul, from the advisory group, said at a press conference in Singapore on Tuesday.

“There will be enormous deaths if all parties do not move to some understanding on repatriation, on aid.”

Q&A

Who are the Rohingya?

The Rohingya are Muslims who live in majority-Buddhist Myanmar. They are often described as "the world's most persecuted minority".

Nearly all of Myanmar's 1.1 million Rohingya live in the western coastal state of Rakhine. The government does not recognise them as citizens, effectively rendering them stateless.

Extremist nationalist movements insist the group are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, although the Rohingya say they are native to Rakhine state.

Rights groups accuse Burmese authorities of ethnic cleansing, systematically forcing Rohingya from the country through violence and persecution, a charge the government has denied.

Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/AAP

Was this helpful?

Thank you for your feedback.

Because a repatriation deal between the neighbouring countries has been delayed, Bangladesh is racing to prepare new homes on a nearby island, called Bhasan Char, before the monsoons that could arrive later this month.

The advisory board for the committee for implementation of the recommendations on Rakhine state was set up by Myanmar last year to advise on ways of adopting the findings of an earlier commission headed by the former UN secretary general Kofi Annan.

Computer modelling by the United Nations high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) shows that more than 100,000 refugees will be threatened by landslides and floods in the coming monsoons. The rains typically begin in April and peak in July, according to the Bangladesh meteorological department.

'Lives will be lost': Bangladesh rains promise further misery for Rohingya

Read more

Chutikul’s comments came as Malaysia intercepted a boat 56 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar off its northern island of Langkawi after a storm.

Malaysia will allow them to enter on humanitarian grounds, with rights groups expecting further attempts at perilous journeys by sea.